IWC Introduces the Mark XI Reissue (Which Looks Much Like the Mark XII)

Produced for the British Royal Air Force in the 1950s, the Mark XI is arguably the timepiece that put IWC on the path to becoming synonymous with pilot’s watches. The modern day IWC pilot’s watch collection started in 1994 with the introduction of the Mark XII, which was essentially the Mark XI in modern dress.

The new Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII Edition “Tribute to Mark XI” is a no-frills reissue that’s affordably priced and limited to 1948 pieces. Ostensibly a remake of the military-issue Mark XI, the new limited edition edition is more precisely a Mark XII remake, having a similar dial featuring a date window at three. A triangle at 12 o’clock and baton markers at the quarters are taken from the vintage original, as are the pencil-shaped minute hand and baton hour hand.

A vintage Mark 11

The rest of the watch is essentially stock Mark XVIII, which means a 40mm steel case with a soft iron cage inside for protection against magnetism. Inside the soft iron cage is the cal. 35111, which is actually a SW300, a clone of the ETA 2892. It’s automatic with a 42-hour power reserve.

Having seen the watch at SIHH 2017, I can say it’s attractively styled with a recognisable military inspiration, but because of the relatively slimness of the case versus its diameter, feels significantly flatter than the originals.

Price and availability

The Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII Edition “Tribute to Mark XI” (ref. IW327007) is a limited edition of 1948 pieces that will be available only at Harrods in London from July to September 2017. After that it will be available at IWC retailers and boutiques worldwide, priced at €4790, including 19% European VAT.

In a case decided earlier this month, the intellectual property office in Singapore decided for Franck Muller in its tussle with Van Cleef & Arpels (VC&A) over the use of the trademark “Mystery Set” for watches, though the jeweller retained exclusivity of the mark for jewellery, according to Singapore newspaper The Straits Times.

Both had gone to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) over the right to use the term, with Franck Muller, specifically its trademark owning subsidiary FMTM Distribution Ltd., claiming that VC&A had not used the trademark for five years since its registration, along with the fact that the term is generic one.

With a respected legal system while being a crucial market for high-end jewellery and watches – and a particularly important country for Franck Muller – Singapore was the right location for the two luxury brands to settle their dispute. Though founded as a watchmaker in 1991, Franck Muller has a lucrative collection of jewellery as well as a diverse offering of bejewelled watches. VC&A, on the other hand, was established as a jeweller in Paris, but is now regarded as a legitimate player in the world of high-end mechanical watches, albeit mostly set with gemstones.

Invented and patented by the French jeweller in 1933, “Mystery Set”, or serti mysterieux in French, is a technique of setting gemstones with no visible mounting. Now widely used in jewellery and watches, it’s often referred to as “invisible setting” – the technique’s trade name according to IPOS. “Mystery Set” or “Mystery Setting, on the other hand, was judged to be a term coined by VC&A and one that “describes the aura which is exuded by such a setting… allusive of the invisible setting technique and in turn, jewellery.”

Not so mysterious now.

The trade mark registrar deciding the case also pointed out the irony that a high successful trade mark could end up undermining itself, being so “accomplished” that it becomes a general term, which was what Franck Muller was claiming.

To show that it had consistently used the trademark in its business, VC&A produced several invoices dating from 2008 to 2015 for sales of “Mystery Set” jewellery totalling over S$2.5m, but none for watches. Consequently, VC&A got to keep the “Mystery Set” trademark for jewellery, but lost it for watches. Expect to see plenty of “Mystery Set” Franck Muller watches in stores soon.